England's most senior doctor has questioned the government's policy of
criminalising all people who take illegal drugs and said they should be
treated primarily as if they have a "health problem".

Professor Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer, said that at present illegal use of drugs was treated mainly as a law and order issue.

However, giving evidence to MPs yesterday Dame Sally referred to research which suggested the focus on criminalisation was "deterring drug users from seeking medical help".

She said: "I think we have a health problem, and we would do well as a nation to look at is as a health problem. I think there’s quite a lot of evidence from other countries, and science, about how you could go about that.

“But the lead for drugs [policy], and alcohol actually, is the Home Office, and this Government is choosing to continue to treat it in that way.”

She said that if the Coalition decided to decriminalise some drugs, she was "ready with quite a lot of advice" about how to help drug users.

Her comments have prompted campaigners to call again for a Royal Commission to review drugs laws, which could look at decriminalisation.

Dame Sally's intervention comes a week after the British Medical Association published a report warning that the focus on criminalisation was discouraging drug users to seek medical help or advice.

She told the Science and Technology select committee that she was examining evidence from other countries about treating illegal drugs as principally a "health" issue rather than a criminal one.

She said: "I am watching the accumulation of evidence - the BMA last week talking about the health harms and everything.

"But it’s not high on my list of ‘to try and dos’ because I’ve got so much else and the Coalition has not chosen to decriminalise it. If they chose to, we will be ready with quite a lot of advice.”

Both Portugal and the Netherlands, where drugs policy is led by their health departments, have chosen to decriminalise possession of small quantities for personal use. In Germany, both cannabis and heroin can now be prescribed in certain circumstances.

However, in other European countries where health is the lead department, such as Ireland and Denmark, there has been no decriminalisation.

Dame Sally also indicated she would not be afraid of confronting ministers by putting forward controversial scientific evidence on drugs.

Referring to Public Health England, which takes on responsibility for rehabilitating drug addicts in April, she said: “I’m quite clear that one of my roles is to protect their right to speak out about what the evidence is.”

This was different from “political advocacy”, she maintained. But she continued: “I will make sure that the truth - the scientific evidence, peer reviewed - is published if they have problems, even if it is uncomfortable for me.”

In 2009 Professor David Nutt was sacked as chairman of the government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, after he criticised the decision to upgrade cannabis to a class B drug.

He also claimed Ecstasy and LSD were less harmful than alcohol and cigarettes.

While some scientists defended Prof Nutt, saying he had been sacked for simply telling the truth, he was criticised by Sir Liam Donaldson, Dame Sally’s predecessor. He said: “These things are best sorted out behind the scenes.”

Last night, doctors and drugs campaigners welcomed her stance.

Professor Averil Mansfield, who helped write the BMA’s report, said: “The medical profession needs to be part of the debate.”

Martin Barnes, chief executive DrugScope, said the charity shared the view “that drug misuse should be treated largely as a health and public health issue”, while acknowledging that "enforcement has a role to play in addressing drug supply".

He said Drugscope was “extremely disappointed” that the Government had rejected MPs’ proposals for a Royal Commission to review drugs laws, which could look at decriminalisation.

However, mental health charities are concerned that any move to water down drugs laws could spur use of cannabis, which is increasingly linked to psychological problems.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “Chief Medical Officers are rightly independent of ministers and government so they can provide robust and evidenced advice.“

He continued: “Our position remains that drugs are illegal because they are harmful. We remain committed to protecting and improving the health of the population and acknowledge the clear evidence that drugs cause serious health harms, which is why the drug strategy has an emphasis on supporting those who are drug dependent to achieve recovery.

“Our cross-government approach is working. Drug usage is at its lowest level since records began and people going into treatment today are far more likely to free themselves from dependency than ever before.”